


Love Marginal

by FainTheSentientBeing



Series: Subunit Shenanigans [2]
Category: Love Live! School Idol Festival (Video Game), Love Live! School Idol Project
Genre: F/F, Printemps Shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-07
Updated: 2017-09-28
Packaged: 2018-11-29 00:59:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11429856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FainTheSentientBeing/pseuds/FainTheSentientBeing
Summary: As Printemps try and create their first single, they confront their romantic feelings.





	1. Chapter 1

“Bye Rin-Chan.” The words tasted bitter as they left Hanayo’s mouth, an aching unhappiness punctuating every step, it pulsed in time with her heartbeat. Taking one last glance back, she hopped up onto the train. 

Although she planned to not look back, she still did, watching Rin as the cold metal doors shut in front of her, separating them. Taking a seat, she sighed, the world outside of her window blurring and getting left behind, Rin along with it. 

It wasn’t an uncommon occurrence, Rin going one place, her going another. But it never usually felt that bad. She should have been happy, after all, she had a Printemps meeting with Honoka and Kotori waiting for her. Yet all she could focus on was Rin walking away, and the door shutting between them. 

With a heavy sigh, she fogged up the window. For a few seconds, she stared at it, before tracing her finger to write a simple, single name. Hoshizora. It was the one thing tormenting her, and truthfully, it had been for a long while. Lately though, it had only gotten worse. Yet she couldn’t quite pinpoint why, she racked her brain for answers but kept struggling to find them. Ultimately it grew too frustrating, and with a single tear, she gave up, sitting back in her seat and waiting for the train to arrive. 

As she approached the door, she could already hear Honoka, ranting about something passionately (And loudly) about something to Kotori, she smiled a little, she wasn’t sure what else she expected. Softly knocking on the door she awaited an answer, hoping they had more of an idea of what to write about than her. So far all she had was a bunch of sad, confusing thoughts about Rin.

“Hey Hanayo-Chan, come in.” Kotori said, smiling warmly as she opened the door. Once Hanayo entered, she turned and stepped into the living room, where Honoka was distraughtly and overdramatically lay on the floor. 

“Oh, hi Hanayo-Chan!” she said, breaking her distressed appearance for only a second. “Anyway, Kotori-Chan. It’s not fair” she complained. 

“Um, what isn’t Honoka-Chan?” Hanayo inquired, realising she had walked into quite the scene.

“Tsubasa-Chan, she’s spending so much time with A-Rise, she hasn’t spoken to me for ages!” she grumbled, sitting up. 

“Um, Tsubasa-Chan? When did you get on such good terms with her?” Hanayo inquired, she’d hardly heard Honoka talking about her prior to then, and when she did she always called her Tsubasa-San.

“W-well…” she began, nervously looking at the ground. “We haven’t really gotten that close, but uh. We are talking a lot!”

“Honoka-Chan just has a crush on her.” Kotori clarified, giggling and taking a seat, gesturing for Hanayo to sit beside her.

She found the sofa rather unusual, she didn’t have one in her house, so it was rare for her to sit on one. It was a welcome and comforting change though. From her position on the carpet Honoka perked up. “Kotori-Chan!” she opened her mouth as if she was going to say more, only to back down. “I mean, it’s true, but you didn’t have to say it so blatantly!”

“A-anyway, aren’t we supposed to come up with a song?” she changed the topic in protest, looking to Hanayo. “Hanayo-Chan, you have something, right?”

“W-well, no…” she mumbled in response. “I don’t even have a concept.” she sighed. “I’m sorry.” 

“Maybe you should write about how you’re feeling Honoka-Chan, you seem to be passionate about it.” Kotori chirped, saving Hanayo from the pressure of attention. 

“No, I’m no good with lyrics.” she sighed, “What about you Kotori-Chan, hasn’t something been bothering you lately?” 

Kotori hummed in thought, taking a couple of seconds to think before clearly coming to a conclusion. “Umm, no, not really.” she blatantly lied. Both Hanayo and Honoka looked at her skeptically, she broke in an instant. “Okay, well. I’m the same as Honoka-Chan. Umi-Chan’s been spending so much time with the archery club, it’s making me jealous…”

“U-umi-Chan?” Hanayo squeaked, unlike the second years she was completely unaware of Kotori’s interest in Umi. 

“Yeah, Kotori’s got a crush on her.” Honoka said, smiling. “But they never ask eachother out! I don’t get it! You two stuck to eachother like glue when you were kids!” she ranted, hints of frustration in her voice, betraying the fact that she was the biggest supporter of their relationship.

With a reddened face, Kotori concluded it was time to make everyone tea, and left the room. As Honoka and Hanayo sat together in silence, everything began to come together. Why she had been feeling the way she did on the train, why she was so focused on being apart from Rin, and what she could write a song about. Once she reached her conclusion, she let out an audible gasp.

“Hanayo-Chan? What is it?” Honoka questioned, absentmindedly waving to Kotori as she entered the room and placed tea on the table at the centre of the room. 

“W-well, I think I have a song idea…” she mumbled, suddenly growing hesitant and unsure due to the attention she was receiving. “I thought of it just now, when you were talking about Umi-Chan and Kotori-Chan, when they were younger and stuff.” 

“Yeah? And?” Honoka pressed excitedly, eagrely leaning forward to hear more. Kotori showed a similar level of curiousity, but didn’t express it nearly as dramatically.

“W-well, I-I just. You talking about Kotori-Chan and Umi-Chan reminded me of Rin-Chan and I. A-and then the idea of being less open with your feelings when you’re older. L-like, with Rin-Chan, when we were younger we’d be so open to eachother, but now there’s stuff I don’t tell her! A-and sometimes I wish I could go back to being like that and just tell her how I feel…” she went on and on, pouring her heart out, continuing to talk out of nervousness and a desire to express the feelings she had been struggling to comprehend for a while now.

“On the train here, I felt really sad, but I couldn’t tell why. But now I think I know. I-I love Rin-Chan, but I don’t know how to say it. I don’t think I should even say it, she’s my friend, I-I feel guilty for loving her. I can’t be her friend when I’m like this!” her speech brought her near to tears, wet droplets threatening to fall and sink into the carpet. After a few seconds of staring downward, she finally looked up, finding two fond smiles meeting her.

“That settles it, Hanayo-Chan, you’re in charge of the lyrics.” Honoka stated with certainty, grinning at her supportively.

“Wh-what? K-kotori-Chan?” Hanayo pleaded, looking to the grey haired girl in hopes of her bailing her out of the difficult task.

“I agree with Honoka-Chan.” she chirped, smiling broadly at her. “The way you spoke, it reminded me so much of how I feel…” she confessed. “That’s why you should write the lyrics.” 

“I-I…” she breathed out heavily, realising she had no choice in the matter, whether she liked it or not, she was best for the job. “Okay.” she whispered softly, reaching for the tea and sipping at it slowly.

“Okay, so how about we all meet at my house next time? Hanayo-Chan, you can bring the lyrics. And Kotori-Chan, you can bring some outfit designs.” she ordered.

“What are you going to do Honoka-Chan?” Kotori asked, noticing that Honoka had left herself without any work to do. 

“Ummm, provide leadership!” she began, however once she noticed the unimpressed looks the other girls were giving her, she made an attempt to sweeten the deal. “Stuff from my family’s shop!” They remained dissatisfied. “F-fine, I’ll do dance steps.” she said, finalising their plan.

With the three of them prepared for the next meeting, the mood of the room relaxed and Hanayo found some of the stress had left her. Despite the towering task looming over her, she managed to keep it out of her mind.

“So, Hanayo-Chan. About Rin-Chan…” Honoka began, a dark hint of amusement in her voice, it was clear some form of interrogation was about to begin.

“Someone help me…” she whimpered under her breath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really happy to be writing about subunits again, I love them so much. Printemps is a bit of a challenge for me, I don't know why, but I feel like they're a bit harder for me to write than Lily White or Bibi. But, I enjoyed it nonetheless! This fic is kind of a parallel to, and is supposed to take place at the same time, as Kimi No Kuse Ni. The two fics take place in the same series, and there'll be a sequel fic that brings them both together. That's probably gonna be quite a while away, but its being planned out! This subunit focused series is something I'm really passionate about, I'm so excited to keep working on it. 
> 
> As for this fic, I feel it's not amazing, but it's good enough. I don't know, I tend to be overly critical on myself. As always, you guys wil lbe the judge of that. I'd like to thank you all for reading and I hope you have a nice day!


	2. Chapter 2

Once again, a Printemps meeting rolled around, Hanayo didn’t feel much better, the only difference between their first meeting and this one was that she now had a page filled with ramblings she supposed could be described as lyrics. She really didn’t think much of them, all she really did was put down her feelings on paper. “It’s better than nothing” she supposed, sighing to herself.

Once again, the train rumbled beneath her as she approached her friends’ neighbourhood. She gazed out of the window, recalling how she had described it in the song. She worried it was too raw, too close to life. That if Rin were to hear it, she’d figure everything out. “Maybe that’d be a good thing?” she pondered, only for a cold hard pessimism to strike her down moments later. “No, she’d hate me for it. Being in love with her even though we’re friends, getting jealous because she’s around other people… Maybe I shouldn’t even show them this.” she whimpered. Folding up the paper again and burying her face into her arms. Utterly lost.

In what was either a millisecond or a millennia, she arrived. She lagged behind the rest of the world. As the other passengers all emerged, she remained seated. Barely shuffling out of the doors in time. 

After a short walk, she found herself at the entrance Honoka’s house. There wasn’t much noise coming from inside. It was eerie, she was accustomed to the voice of a loud, brash Honoka, whenever she arrived at a Printemps meeting. Instead, there was just a silence. Hanayo took a deep breath, her fist raised to knock. She was slightly afraid to show her song, it was nothing on the level their usual songs, she wasn’t Umi after all. The best she was hoping for was that it was passable. 

“Hi Ha-” a voice came from behind.

“Please don’t hurt me!” Hanayo squeaked, turning to face the source of the voice. “O-oh, Kotori-Chan.” she breathed a sigh of relief, moving the paper she was clutching to her chest behind her back. She’d prefer to put off the topic as long as possible. 

Kotori giggled.. “Did you not recognise my voice? ” she questioned, laughter mixed in with her words. 

“U-um… I just heard a voice and got scared. I didn’t really think about who it was.” she admitted.

“Okay..” she noted, smiling reassuringly at her and reaching above Hanayo’s head to knock the door, tapping it eagrely.

Moments later, Honoka answered. “Kotori-Chan, Hanayo-Chan. Come in!” she smiled, opening the door wide open and leading them upstairs into her room. Hanayo clutched the paper behind her still, her heart racing a bit faster with each step they took. She really didn’t want to show them the lyrics.

“So, how have you two been?” Kotori asked, thankfully not yet getting onto the topic of the song. Unfortunately it meant she’d have to talk about Rin, but it was better than confronting what she was dreading most.

“Well, I’ve been talking to Tsubasa-Chan a lot more!” Honoka chirped happily. “But she’s been talking a lot about other idols. About our mutual competition and stuff.” she grumbled. “It’s better than before. But still, I wish she’d focus on me more.” she reflected the song in her words, her unhappy desire to be closer to Tsubasa. It mirrored what Hanayo had written, and was feeling herself. 

Kotori’s gaze began shifting from Honoka to her, so she spoke up, stalling slightly longer. “What about you Kotori-Chan? Are things better with Umi-Chan?”

Her eyes widened, she wasn’t expecting to be asked. She bit her thumbnail, thinking of the words to say. Her gaze wandered across the room, side to side, as she collected her thoughts. “I’ve been meaning to talk to her, but every time I try to I stop myself.” she sighed. “I used to find it so much easier to talk to her.”

Her nostalgic comment paralleled another feeling Hanayo had written into the song. The desire to turn back time, to return to who you once were, knowing that if things were still the same, you’d be able to say what you wanted to. 

Hanayo felt a sense of calm wash over her. Although she still didn’t think the song was very good, she knew they could understand, and relate to it. She unveiled the paper from behind her back, placing it on the table. “H-here.” she smiled nervously. “I wrote the song like you asked.”

Honoka and Kotori leaned over the table, examining it. A few tense minutes passed. “At least I didn’t have to talk about Rin-Chan.” Hanayo supposed, tapping her fingertips against the table in nervousness. “H-how is it?” she decided to speak, she couldn’t take the tension anymore.

“Really good!” Honoka flashed her a smile and gave a thumbs up. “I can’t wait to sing it!” Kotori nodded in agreement, smiling comfortingly at her. 

With a restored confidence, Hanayo matched their smiles with one of her own. “Thank you.” she said softly.”So, should we decide who sings which part?” she asked, taking the initiative. It was surprising, but didn’t feel out of character.

For some time, they continued on, discussing how to split up the song, highlighting their own parts with colour coded pens, Honoka gave them an overview of the dance steps (Although her explanation was rather lacking.), and Kotori ran them through some outfit ideas.

Suddenly, a new sound emerged amidst the chatter. A simple notification sound from someone’s phone. Kotori and Hanayo didn’t notice, merely continuing their spirited discussion about the outfits they’d wear for the performance. A moment later, another new sound, a more dramatic, louder one, burst through the blanket of babbling.

“You two! Look!” Honoka called, turning her phone toward them in a mix of shock and pride. “Read!” she commanded excitedly. 

“Honoka-Chan, would you like to go out this afternoon?” Hanayo read aloud slowly. “F-from Tsubasa-San?” her eyes widened and she looked up at Honoka in amazement. 

“Yeah!” she turned the phone around and stared at it, a bewildered energy accentuating every move she made. “What do I do? Do I say yes? Is this a date or something?” she questioned, still gawking at the phone in her hand.

“I think you’re getting ahead of yourself, Honoka-Chan. I think she just wants to hang out.” Kotori replied, gesturing for her to calm down. “But still, that’s good!” she smiled.

“It is!” Honoka exclaimed. “What should I say back to her?” she looked between the phone and her friends, she had gotten herself so riled up that she was uncertain on how to respond. 

“Say yes!” Hanayo chimed, getting dragged into the excitement of it all. “Oh, and ask her what time exactly.”

“Okay!” she tapped at her phone rapidly, sending the response. All three girls gazed at the phone, awaiting a reply.

“Great! Is 1pm fine? We can meet up at UTX and go from there.” came the response. Honoka responded with a resounding “Yeah!” without consulting the other two.”We’re hanging out at one.” she informed them. “Uh, what time is it now?”

“You can see on your phone, Honoka-Chan.” Kotori reminded her, not a hint of condescension in the way she spoke.

“Oh, yeah! Thanks Kotori-Chan.” she looked down at her phone. “Twelve? I-is that even enough time? I still need to sort out an outfit! A-and I should probably do some makeup or something, this is Tsubasa after all.” she ranted, working herself up far more than necessary. “Wait a minute! You two! You can help me!” she grinned.

“Huh? W-what?” Hanayo looked around, at Kotori and herself. “Kotori-Chan understands fashion, b-but I’m not really helpful.”  
“You are, Hanayo-Chan!” Honoka insisted, beaming at her and placing her hands on her shoulders. She took a second, letting her look of confidence sink in, before she stood up and stretched. “Okay! Let’s go then!”.

Honoka rose to her feet, swinging open the doors of her cupboard. It was a disorganised mess, clothes strewn about everywhere. She started digging through the piles, Kotori and Hanayo merely watching in amazement. Eventually, she struck gold. She began gathering clothes and throwing them vaguely in her friends’ direction. After a while, the onslaught subsided, resulting in a pile of clothing between the three girls. “Okay, these are my good clothes. Help me with an outfit!”

It didn’t take long for Kotori to piece together a few outfits from the debris. She lay them all out neatly, folding the unused clothes into a pile. “Now just choose one.” she smiled, admiring her work. 

“Hm, which one would Tsubasa like best?” Honoka pondered, rubbing her chin in thought. Out of nowhere, her gaze snapped to Hanayo. “Hanayo-Chan! You know idol stuff! What’s Tsubasa’s favourite colour?” 

“Uh… If I remember that interview right, it was orange? She didn’t sound like she was paying attention when she answered though.” she blushed slightly, she doubted the connection she had formed was the reason why, but if it was, it boded well for Honoka.

“Oh, that makes this easy.” she hummed, picking out the only outfit with an orange piece of clothing. She balled it all up and ran into the bathroom, later emerging in her new outfit. An orange jacket over the top of a frilly shirt, complimented by a pair of shorts. “There! How is it?” she asked, posing slightly for them.

“It’s perfect.” Kotori informed her, proudly nodding as she admire her work.

“Will Tsubasa like it?” Honoka inquired enthusiastically, leaving Hanayo somewhat taken aback. 

“H-how am I supposed to know that?” she replied, unsure of what Honoka was really expecting of her. 

“You know everything about idols Hanayo-Chan! Maybe even more than Nico-Chan!” she admired, her eyes twinkling. 

“Th-thank you.” she blushed, she didn’t think she was particularly knowledgeable about idols. She was just passionate.

Kotori tapped Honoka on the shoulder, having mysteriously procured a makeup set out of nowhere while they were talking. It very clearly wasn’t Honoka’s, you could tell even if you didn’t see the name “Kousaka Yukiho” plastered on top of it.

“Do you do this stuff all the time Kotori-Chan?” she wondered aloud, staring in amazement at how much effort Kotori was putting in. 

“Hm, yeah, everyday.” she commented, continuing to singlemindedly focus on her work.

“What?” Honoka struggled to stay still, feeling an overpowering desire to express her shock physically. “How? When?”

“Like this, but on my own face. And in the mornings.” she answered, squinting hard as she applied the last few touches to her face.

“In the morning?” she gasped, as if she had heard something absolutely mortifying. Hanayo giggled, Honoka was always fun to be around. “No way. That’s just not possible!”

Kotori only shrugged in response. Finishing up what she was doing. “And that’s it. Unless you want your eyelashes done.” 

“Yeah! Do them!” she approached the question like a challenge, approaching it boisterously. 

“Are you sure? You hated it last time…” Kotori recalled, remembering the last time they had attempted such a thing.

“That’s just because Nico-Chan poked me in the eye!” she dismissed. “Come on, do it!”

Thankfully, Kotori was much more skilled than Nico, managing to do her makeup impeccably. She stood up, looking down at Honoka and checking her work. “You’re good to go, Honoka-Chan.” she said cheerfully. 

“Great! What time is it now? We’ve got plenty of time left, right?” she beamed, almost shaking with energy.

“It’s nearly half one.” Hanayo stated timidly, hating to burst her bubble.

“Damnit! I’ve gotta go! Uh, you two can stay here if you’d like, continue the meeting and stuff.” she ranted, almost too quick to understand. She quickly glanced down at her phone and sprinted off down the stairs, the “Bye!” barely leaving her lips before she left. 

“Guess it’s time to go home then?” Kotori said, standing up and picking up the box. 

“Okay. I think there’s a train at half one. So leaving now would be good…” Hanayo muttered, picking up her things and waving to Kotori as she left.

Just as she had been that morning, she found herself on the train. It’s familiar, dull rhythm accompanying the sadness and guilt she felt. She knew she should be happy for Honoka, yet she struggled to feel it. The most she could manage was a weak smile that hardly disguised the aching, empty feeling in the pit of her stoumach. She felt more isolated than before, if everything went well for Honoka, she’d no longer feel the same way as Hanayo, and she’d feel even more alone than she already did. She whimpered, examining the lyircs again. The word “selfish” stuck out to her. 

“Maybe I should just give up” she thought. She wasn’t Honoka, with her outgoing, confident personality. And Rin wasn’t Tsubasa, with her smoothness and forwardness. 

The thought haunted her as throughout the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has been one of my biggest struggles so far. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to write it. The main reason was I kind of, mentally blocked myself. In the first chapter, two sections got messed up when I copy pasted (My mouse is a bit fucked.) leading to parts of the fic being an unreadable mess. I'm so sorry you all had to read that before I edited it. I implore you all to read it again now that its edited (And actually makes sense). But yeah, that really messed with me emotionally, I felt terrible for putting out something so messed up. I'm largely over it now, just afraid of making the same mistake. So please forgive me for that.
> 
> Secondly, I started out this chapter with it being inconsistent. Due to taking a month away from this fic and not wanting to touch it due to the first chapter. I kind of forgot some details. Like how Chapter 2 is set at Honoka's house. So I started writing as if it were at Kotori's house again. I fixed it, obviously. But that was another little hurdle to get over. Really that's what this chapter was composed of. Hurdles I had to keep getting over. And thankfully, I did! 
> 
> For the record, the outfit Honoka was wearing for her date with Tsubasa is the one from her Birthstone SSR. I feel my description is a bit lacking, so if you want a proper visualisation, you can look at that card. Apart from the major trouble I've had writing this, I'm quite pleased with the end result. I think it was pretty funny, and the concept of Printemps helping Honoka get set up for a date (Or at least, what she treats like a date) was one I really enjoyed. I'm sort of worried that section is a bit tonally off? But oh well, you'll be the judge of htat I suppose. I'm sorry for such long notes, thank you if you read them all, and thank you for reading the fic! I hope all of you have great days and have enjoyed reading this chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

Kotori’s plan was perfect. Simple, yet perfect. It was only a matter of time before her trap was sprung, and she anticipated it greatly. 

“Kotori-Chaan, when does this even start? Why do I have to be here so early?” Honoka complained from beside her, she cracked her neck, they hadn’t been there long but she was already bored. 

“Well you’d ruin it if you came in too late.” she explained, watching the entrance eagrely. This was her favourite cafe in Akihabara, and she had offered to pay for everything. There was no way they wouldn’t come.

Through the glass, Hanayo’s drooped, moping form could be seen. She was being eaten away at by something, from her posture to her expression, she was the image of sadness. “Quick, Honoka-Chan! Hide behind your menu!” Kotori exclaimed, putting up her own menu over her face. Honoka mirrored her quickly, doing her best to watch as Hanayo walked in, looked around, and sat at an empty table.

Hanayo sighed, looking around and finding nothing. She shrugged, supposing that Kotori and Honoka would show up later. Since their last meeting, things had only really gotten worse. She kept thinking more and more seriously about just giving up on her feelings. She and Rin hadn’t been talking as much. They still talked a lot, but it felt like they weren’t as close anymore. She had been spending more time with her other friends and Rin always insisted she was going to do the same. On the one hand, she felt it could be her fault, she was the one going to see her friends constantly. On the other, she was only doing it so frequently because she felt like Rin may be happier to have time without her. They spent so much time together, maybe it was too much?

All of a sudden, Rin was in the doorway, it was as if her thoughts had caused her to manifest. Her eyes lit up when she saw her, however they dimmed immediately after, her fears not letting her rest.

“Kayo-Chin?” Rin said, staring at her curiously. She seemed happy, a stark contrast to the gloomy Hanayo she was looking at. “Can I sit down with you?” she requested, eagre to be with her friend again.

“Oh, sure…” Hanayo muttered, even in her current state she couldn’t bring herself to deny Rin. Kotori grinned, although it was hidden by her menu. Her plan was working perfectly, she peeked over the menu at Honoka and nodded, indicating her success. 

Rin sat down, she could already tell something was wrong. She knew it wouldn’t be good for Hanayo to ask right away, so she decided to start with some more casual conversation. “So, did Kotori-Chan invite you here?”

“Oh, yes, she doesn’t seem to be here though.” she looked around, still not catching on. The menu was an ingenious piece of equipment,with it, Kotori and Honoka were the epitome of stealth, masters of hiding in plain sight. “I guess she’s coming later.

“Oh, I see. She invited me too.” Rin said. “She offered me free food! Too bad she’s not here though, I’m starving, nya.” she clutched her stoumach, overdramatically making a point of how hungry she was. 

Hanayo giggled a little. The dark gloom that seemed to emanate from her eased a bit. “I can get us some food if you’d like, Rin-Chan.” Hanayo told her, now smiling, just a little bit.

“Nah, it's okay Kayo-Chin. I’ll pay for our food.” Rin insisted.

“N-no, it’s fine Rin-Chan. I really don’t mind.” Hanayo insisted more.

“Kayo-Chin please, I’ll do it!” Rin took her insistence to a new level, eclipsing Hanayo’s previous escalation. 

“Rin-Chan, please. I like buying you things. You always seem so happy when I do.” Hanayo’s insistence surpassed Rin’s, and with her extra comment about Rin’s happiness, she had secured her victory. 

“O-okay, Kayo-Chin.” Rin surrendered, taking a look through the menu. 

Hanayo was smiling properly now, talking to Rin so casually and normally had calmed her. A small worry gnawed at the back of her mind, telling her it was all temporary. But for now, she could ignore it and just appreciate the girl in front of her.

“So, what’ve you been doing today?” she asked, picking up her own menu and checking through it, searching for something that involved rice.

“Nothing, just went shopping with my parents, nya.” Rin shrugged. “How about you? Did you see your friend again today?”

“Oh uh, Tanaka-San?” Hanayo inquired, it was somewhat redundant to do so, she was the only one Hanayo had been with lately. “Not today, no.” 

“I see.” Rin nodded in understanding. She seemed lost in thought, she tapped her fingers against eachother, pensively pondering something. Occasionally her lips would part, preparing to speak, only for them to shut again. 

“What’s wrong Rin-Chan?” Hanayo asked, concern coming clearly from every aspect of her. 

“Um…” she clenched her fists, wincing slightly. She didn’t want to say it, but she did anyway. “I-is there anything between you and Tanaka-San?” she blurted out. The words hung in the air for a couple of seconds, before Rin followed up with a barrage of stumbled over sentences “I-I don’t have a problem with that! She’s nice. I just want to know. I feel like I should give you more space to be with her and stuff. I just don’t wanna intrude, y’know.” she could’ve gone on and on if Hanayo hadn’t laughed the way she did.

“Th-that’s why you’ve been away from me?” Hanayo asked, looking at Rin with a sadly amused expression. “You think I like Tanaka-San?” she smiled, droplets trickling down her face from her eyes. It was somewhat ridiculous, she felt, to cry at this. But she did anyway. 

Rin was met with a mixture of emotions, she wasn’t really sure what to do. Hanayo was laughing, but also crying. Either way, among the chaotic swarm of differing feelings, one thing was clear. Hanayo didn’t like her. And that meant all of Rin’s worry had been for nothing. She breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m glad. Now I don’t have to worry about it.”

Hanayo felt stupid, utterly stupid. All this time she had spent worrying they were growing apart, all this time she had spent sadly thinking about Rin and wondering why she kept distancing herself. It was all clear now, and she was so glad. All the worries that darkened her days seemed to burn away, unable to withstand the bright shining star that was Rin Hoshizora.

She may not be Honoka, Rin may not be Tsubasa. And even though she knew she was nowhere near able to confess. She felt reassured that someday, she’d be able to. And it was okay that today wasn’t that day. 

“Guess we both got worried over nothing, nya.” Rin stated, letting it all sink in. Hanayo nodded in agreement.

“I’m sorry Kayo-Chin!” Rin cried, hugging her tight. “I should’ve known!” 

Hanayo smiled, and hugged Rin back, just as tightly. “I’m sorry too!” she replied. 

“Now.” Kotori said, nodding at Honoka. The two of them got up and subtly left, only to enter once again. “Oh, hi Rin-Chan, Hanayo-Chan.” she said, acting perfectly, it was impossible for them to tell that she had any prior knowledge of them being here. “Why’re you here?” she asked, directing the question at Rin,

“Huh, you invited me!” she exclaimed, turning to face Kotori, she was utterly bewildered.

“Hm, no. Check again. I invited you to come here on Tuesday, not today.” she explained. Rin squinted at her suspiciously, going and checking her phone. She found that yes, Kotori had indeed said today. Although she really hadn’t. She had just hastily edited it while Rin was talking with Hanayo.

“Oh, yeah. Heheh, sorry nya.” she said sheepishly. “Are you three having a meeting then?” she asked, looking over the Printemps, of course finishing on Hanayo, staring at her for longer than she did the others.

“Yep!” Honoka chimed in. “Sorry Rin-Chan! I’m sure you and Hanayo-Chan can go get food together tomorrow.” she beamed at Rin, delighted in herself. “I’m the best wingman.” she thought, her smile growing wider and more prideful.

Rin beamed too, turning back to Hanayo once again. “Can we Kayo-Chin? Please?” she looked at her, yellow eyes wide and expectant. Hanayo was utterly powerless against them. She nodded in acceptance.

“Great!” she cheered, hugging Hanayo quickly before heading for the door. “I’ll talk to you about it later, nya!” she waved, an excited spring in each and every step she took. Hanayo watched her leave fondly, she found herself relaxed, the atmosphere of gloom that once haunted her every moment was gone. She doubted it would come back. And if it did? Well, Rin was always there for her.

“So, how’re you feeling?” Kotori questioned, taking a seat across from Hanayo, she leaned forward eagrely, excited to now if her plan had worked. It had seemed to, but she wanted to be certain. “Better?”

Hanayo nodded, she seemed entirely unaware that Kotori had set it all up. She felt slightly guilty for not telling her, but if she did, it could make her more paranoid. Kotori didn’t want that, she just wanted to see her friend happy again. And she succeeded. “I’m so glad.” she chirped, a wide and satisfied grin on her face. 

“Hm, I guess the song isn’t really accurate anymore. Is it?” Honoka chimed, looking up at the ceiling in thought. “After all, our problems seem to be solved, mostly.” she commented distantly, evidently still lost in thought while she spoke.

“Hm. I-I guess so. After all, I made up with Rin-Chan and you got to be with Tsubasa-San.” Hanayo agreed. “I think we’ll be fine though. I think we’ll just draw on our memories for it.” 

“Makes sense.” Honoka responded, nodding.

Kotori sighed wistfully. “Seems I’m the only one who didn’t make progress.” she complained. She was happy for her friends, very, very happy. But she still wished she could’ve done something too. “How did that date go anyway, Honoka?”

“It went good!” she exclaimed, suddenly jolting up, sculpting herself into a statue of excitement. “It was so nice talking to her more up close. And she was so nice and fun and cool.” she revelled in the daydream, a look of bliss decorating her features. “She did talk a lot about other idols though…” she stated, not really complaining. After all, it was completely overshadowed by the good aspects of their time together. “But she was mostly focused on me!”

Kotori and Hanayo wore matching smiles, happy for her success. “Oh, and about you not getting anywhere with Umi-Chan…” Honoka said, a devious glint of mischief in her eye. “Me and Hanayo-Chan will help you with that.”

“W-will we?” Hanayo questioned frantically, looking between the other girls. Honoka’s stalwartly passionate look infected her in the end, bringing her onto her side. “O-okay! We will!” she declared with a newfound confidence.

Kotori looked between them, both of them stared at her intensely, a fire flickering within their eyes. “Somebody save me.” she muttered, taking a page from Hanayo’s book.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took me a while to write, but its over now! This was a fun fic, I'm glad to have finished it. I loved connecting it with Kimi No Kuse Ni and everything. I get the feeling this series is gonna turn out well! Anyway,this chapter. I quite liked the idea of Kotori helping by setting it all up, it's kinda cute and I think it's fitting for her. I feel in some places this was sorta rushed? I don't know, I just got really, really excited to finish this off. I've been having a good day today. Anyway, I hope you all have a good day too, and that you enjoyed reading this fic!

**Author's Note:**

> I'm really happy to be writing about subunits again, I love them so much. Printemps is a bit of a challenge for me, I don't know why, but I feel like they're a bit harder for me to write than Lily White or Bibi. But, I enjoyed it nonetheless! This fic is kind of a parallel to, and is supposed to take place at the same time, as Kimi No Kuse Ni. The two fics take place in the same series, and there'll be a sequel fic that brings them both together. That's probably gonna be quite a while away, but its being planned out! This subunit focused series is something I'm really passionate about, I'm so excited to keep working on it. 
> 
> As for this fic, I feel it's not amazing, but it's good enough. I don't know, I tend to be overly critical on myself. As always, you guys wil lbe the judge of that. I'd like to thank you all for reading and I hope you have a nice day!


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